“Unprecedented Level of Openness”Governor Riley’s Executive Order Lifts Veil on State Spending

MONTGOMERY - Governor Bob Riley’s continuing efforts to bring greater transparency to government spending moved forward with www.open.alabama.gov, a new website that puts the state’s checkbook online.

Last month, Governor Riley issued an executive order creating by March 1 a publicly accessible website that details spending done by state government. The website, which offers an unprecedented level of detail about state government spending, went online February 27.

On Wednesday, the Governor led a demonstration of the transparency tool.

“The more transparency we have in government, then the more accountability we’ll have in government. This is a common sense idea that helps taxpayers keep track of how their money is being spent and where it’s going,” said Governor Riley. “This is an unprecedented level of openness for state government. All this information empowers taxpayers to become better watchdogs of their government.”

The website includes much more than just the state’s checkbook. The site is a web portal to all types of information on state government. It includes not only the section on state spending, but also a list of all active statewide contracts and awarded bids, a database of all leases held by state departments, links to notices filed under the Alabama Open Meetings Act and campaign finance reports, and information on the Riley Administration’s SMART Governing initiative, which requires state agencies to link their budget requests to measurable objectives.

It will become even easier for taxpayers to lift the veil on government spending by September 1, when the online state checkbook will be searchable.

Open.alabama.gov is the latest move by Governor Riley to bring a greater level of transparency to state government. Governor Riley is the first governor to voluntarily disclose spending out of the Governor’s Contingency Fund and use of state aircraft. His administration implemented the SMART Governing reform, which requires each agency of state government to link its spending with measurable results that taxpayers can review online. The Governor is also pushing a comprehensive anti-corruption bill in the Legislature that includes provisions to require full disclosure of lobbyist spending on public servants and disclosure of financial transactions between lobbyists and public servants and members of their families.

In 2005, financial accountability presentations in Alabama -- as elsewhere in the United States -- consisted largely of pie charts with percentages and vaguely drawn financials. Taking a big step forward that year, Bessemer CFO Willie Davis put his district's check register online, not because he was told to but because it was the right thing to do, as part of his overall push for transparency; look at the information available within his department, here. Willie's check template (see copy below) was used as a model for all Alabama schools, and he serves on the board of directors of the Alabama Association of School Business Officials. About that same time, having heard rumors aboutwidespread problems in the state's community college

From top: Bessemer's Greenwood Elementary was built in 1937 as a WPA project; Pullman railroad cars were formerly built in Bessemer--the company became Wheelabrator-Frye then Waste Management, Inc., also MWKellogg then Kellogg, Brown & Root, then Halliburton. The Bessemer Urban Farm is a community project with the goal of increasing access to fresher food and exposing children to farming practices. Bottom, roller coaster at Alabama Adventure.

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

How we take back our children's education:one person, one question, one school at a time.

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1. Our public schools are a pure form of local government. You elect trustees to oversee your superintendent's running of the schools which are fueled by your taxes. Just because you may see clear problems including proof of illegality that does not mean your pointing these out will be welcomed by either your board or administrators with open arms.

5. Everyone who has followed these steps exactly as outlined herehas experienced 100% success; shortcuts lead to failure.

The most important thing about persuading your local school district to voluntarily post its check register online is the "persuasion" part. This means we remem-ber to approach them in a friendly way, with a smile rather than a stick. No demands, no strident letters to the editor. None of the folks who have tried shortcuts have succeeded. You can't email this in or demand it on your website. You can't talk to your friend the board president and assume anything will come of it.

This is your opportunity to participate in your local political process.

Here below is the short version; the longer more detailed version that points out most of the pitfalls and roadblocks is here.

Remember that Golden Rule we've heard about all of our lives? This is a good time to dust it off. When you approach your board, you're approach-ing individuals. If you go after them in an angry way, they will react as though you're calling their baby ugly and become defensive and turn your request down. Honor their humanity no matter how grumpy or sour they look or act.

Welcome to National HQ for the Grassroots School District Online Check Register Movement! Est. 10.01.06

STATE DOE ONLINETexas Education Agency

MIDDLE EDU-LAYER

CALIFORNIAGlenn County Ofc. of Ed.Placer County Office of Education

MICHIGANSt. Clair County RESA

HONORABLEMENTIONALASKADOE - Checks over $1,000

CALIFORNIASan Gabriel USD - Checks over $500

MICHIGANIntermediate School Districts

PENNSYLVANIACapital Area Intermediate Unit

TEXASBrackett ISD(checks over $500)

This below is the short version; if you're going to do this, please read the full information here; it's your proven road map.

NOTE REGARDING ILLINOIS LAWSUITAs thrilled as I am about efforts by John Tillman and Adam Andrzejewski to bring greater transparency to Illinois public schools, I disagree with their December 2008 lawsuit against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on grounds of incompetency -- the same grounds as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's suit -- as the success of such a suit would have paved the way for Banana Republic-type takeovers of elected officials. Fortunately, the Illinois Supreme Court has refused to hear this case.

N O T E S

Walk softly,and carry abig stick.--Teddy Roosevelt

Friends, here's our great nation's most complete list of school districts(CONTINUED FROM TOP)and because I am still the only person in the 50 states actively searching the U.S. for you,information -- looking for more districts and working withsuperintendents, trustees, moms, dads and taxpayers -- and coaching folks through the check register process, what you see on these pages is the most current and comprehensive information in our great nation. Other folks -- websites, organizations, foundations, etc. -- may copy my information from time to time, but because they are copying rather than originating there is always lag time involved. Please verify this for yourself by backdating websites with a tool such as http://web.archive.orgWith one exception (see Illinois above and right) the information you find on the only other compilations appear to be old copies of my information, second- and third-hand generations of it, borrowed and outdated data all.

American parents and taxpayers deserve current information.

So often, my work with individuals starts with having to undo the strident and demanding approach many of our wonderful friends in conservative think tanks have mistakenly advocated.

Such an approach doesn't sell cars or guacamole or anything in between; it also doesn't work with our public schools.

While such an approach may appease angry millionaire funders, it has never persuaded a single public school administrator to post -- and such an approach forgets that if our schools are a mess it's our own fault.

Criticizing our public schools is like criticizing our arms and legs.They're our appendages.

Local public school systems are as much a form of local politics as town hall and the mayor's office, and it's up to us to clean them up.

Let's get to work, America!

NOTE: For the Good of Illinois lists dollars provided by schools; invariably these are the lower budget forecast numbers rather than the dollars which actually come in and are spent. Adam's list also includes colleges.

FURTHER NOTE: This is not an endorsement of Adam and John's lawsuit against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Frustrated as Illinois residents must be with the widespread corruption in their state, lawsuits such as theirs and AG Lisa Madigan's would have paved the way for Banana Republic-type takeovers of elected officials' offices. It is always good to be mindful of unintended consequences for even our noblest impulses.

So often when folks get in touch with me although they say they want help in bringing transparency and accountability to their schools, it takes them a while to accept that what works best is not pure rationality or demands or petition drives but the friendly heart-to-heart approach.

How refreshing it's been with Adam Andrzejewski (above left), who contacted me earlier this year about his petition drive to impel Illinois school districts to put their check registers online.

After a few phone chats and emails with Adam and John Tillman (above right) of the Illinois Public Policy Institute they quickly changed their strategy and Adam began conducting a series of intimate talks and coffees with the results you see on the roster above. In February 2008 only four Illinois school districts were posting their check registers online; after Adam changed strategies, already there are 35 more, plus a couple of colleges. It was my pleasure to give him free use of the "School District Honor Roll" appellation.

ILLINOIS

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT CHECK REGISTERSAND WHAT ISN'TWe do not ask school districts to post payroll or HIPAA-related dollars; districts can easily post their annual payroll/stipend schedules after the budget is firmed up each summer.

PHOTO CREDITS & LINKS TO CHECK REGISTERS:I am adding photo credits as I locate them; for now, please right click on any image above that interests you. Some photos are themselves live links. I am adding check register links all the time; please rememberthat because this is fluid information, not static, things change constantly as districts redesign their websites and the locations where they're posting their checks.

COPYRIGHT NOTICEWhen borrowing, copying, citing from this roster and site please remember to attribute PeytonWolcott.com.No one else -- governmental or public policy groups or think tanks or persons -- is compiling a comprehensive national roster.

IDAHO:

Idaho State Parks & Recreation

Dunn noted that "hoosier" was frequently used in many parts of the South in the 19th century for woodsmen or rough hill people. He traced the word back to "hoozer," in the Cumberland dialect of England. This derives from the Anglo-Saxon word "hoo" meaning high or hill. In the Cumberland dialect, the world "hoozer" meant anything unusually large, presumably like a hill. It is not hard to see how this word was attached to a hill dweller or highlander. Immigrants from Cumberland, England, settled in the southern mountains (Cumberland Mountains, Cumberland River, Cumberland Gap, etc.). Their descendents brought the name with them when they settled in the hills of southern Indiana.

INDIANA

Most likely origins of the nickname "Hoosier" can be attributed to research by Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr., Indiana historian and long-time Indiana Historical Society secretary:

More information about Indiana's history including possibilities from folklore for the origins of "Hoosier" from the Indiana Historical Society.

TO PUT THE STATES' ROSTERS INTO PERSPECTIVE: California officially has 1,050 school districts (2007-08); about 1,036 per the California DOE's Data & Statistics department as of January 7, 2009. Texas has 1,031 school districts as of that same date. Illinois has 879 districts

U.S. SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH CHECK REGISTERS ONLINE: Alabama

There are fewer than 18,000 residents in all of Pike County. The courthouse exterior (above) hasn't changed much since it was photographed in 1999 by Calvin Beale; more about this remarkable demographer here:www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/Feb03/Profiles/Beale.htm

GEORGIA:

That's the interior of the Zebulon Plant at far right above. After a series of layoffs and the resignation of the last Hightower family heir, the company was cannibalized and the individual plants sold off. More Pike County/Thomaston Mills history here:http://home.alltel.net/tuarch/tmhistory.htm

The county seat, Zebulon, was named after Brig. General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, the soldier and explorer who discovered Pike's Peak as part of his exploration of the Louisiana Purchase; his father fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War.

More about Zebulon Pike here:www.travelsos.net/colorado-journeyer/index.cfm?var_file=heritage-history/zebulon-pike.htm

* PW Note: I'm asking superintendent Alan Leis about making Naperville's online check register available for public viewing; don't see any surprises which might make the district shy.

ALABAMA (132) (100%) - Hats off to Alabama, where all school districts are either already posting their check registers online now or are actively in the process! Click on the links below and look for "departments" then for business or finance -- then "finance statements" or "accountability reports":

The ability to review a local district’s checkbook registers and other financial data online allows parents and citizens of Alabama to be aware of the expenditure of public dollars, which builds confidence in the way our schools budget and spend taxpayers’ dollars.

-- Joseph B. Morton, Ph.D.

Despite the consortium of which was a part having been dissolved, even the C.I.T.Y. Skills Training Program's check register is online; view it here.

2. BETTY & STEPHANIE ASKED FOR A LIST OF CONTRACTS FOR 2YEAR COLLEGES -- S AT A TIME WHEN THE THEN-CHANCELLOR WAS EXPERIENCING SOME PROBLEMS; BETTY PETERS BROUGHT IT UP (LINK TO DOTHAN EAGLE ARTICLE) (JIM COOK) THEN RANDY MENTIONED AT SBOE WORKSHOP, AND STEPHANIE BELL ENDORSED.

WHERE TO FIND ALABAMA SCHOOL DISTRICT CHECK REGISTERS & WHAT THEY'RE CALLED: The most important thing to keep in mind is that unlike many other states where districts post checks as part of board agendas, in Alabama they're part of the business or finance department; look for "finance statements" or "accountability reports." They might be listed under "budget information" and look something like this:

Former chancellor Roy Johnson; mug shot at right; below, home in Opelika

system under their jurisdiction, two veteran conservative Alabama State Board of Education members, Betty Petersand Stephanie Bell, asked to see the system's contracts,which Chancellor Roy Johnson finally produced several months later; you may recognize his name as he was subsequently fired and tried along with 14 others, including a state representative; the case resulted in charges, guilty pleas or convictions of all 15 on charges which included nepotism, money laundering, bribery, witness tampering, false testimony

councilman John "Computer Help for Kids" Katopodis who as it turned out had some cronies of his own, notably Ryan Idol; John was found guilty in September 2009 of 97 counts of mail and wire fraud, and Larry was found guilty of 60 counts the following month. According to the New York Times, "A jury took less than two hours to determine that as president of the Jefferson County Commission, Mr. Langford accepted more than $230,000 in cash, expensive clothing and jewelry in exchange for steering $7.1 million in county bond business to a prominent investment banker. The bonds and debt restructuring destabilized the finances of the county, which includes Birmingham, and its sewer system, helping to push the county to the brink of bankruptcy last year."Some good can come from even the worst of disasters; in this case, the many widespread troubles helped create an environment ripe for transparency. But unlike other states in the same fix where corruption continues unchecked, Alabama was blessed with the right combination of folks in the right places prepared to throw a good dose of sunlight at it. Betty Peters continued to suggest at SBOE meetings that Alabama public schools put their check registers online, an idea that found merit first with fellow members Stephanie Bell and SBOE vice president Randy McKinney, then with the entire board plus Joe Morton, their state superintendent. At local school districts parents like Trish Crain in Hoover sought information about their schools. Republican Governor Bob Riley expanded on the idea by signing Executive Order 46 on February 11, 2009 requiring all Alabama state governmental entities to post their check registers online. And now the SBOE has approved a requirement that all K-12 school districts post their check registers on their websites; according to a spokesman for Governor Riley, "this is included in Administrative code, which has the force of law." More here at the Alabama Department of Education re the School Fiscal Accountability Act (2006-196).

Former B'ham mayorLarry Langford

1John Katopodis (top) & Ryan Idol

Clay County Courthouse

his other best practices include getting rid of all district credit cards but one, tightening internal controls via improved paper trails for purchases, and an open-door policy with the community.

Friends, are you seeking transparency in your local public schools? Good for you! Now, let's use that energy as productively as possible with an approach that generates genuinelong-term change in our schools. Be sure to take a smile and the Golden Rule with you when you go. Proven successful field-tested strategies here.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATIONVICE PRESIDENT RANDY McKINNEYFebruary 2010

Transparency is a critical component for honest government. When citizens can see where their tax dollars are actually being spent, they will either be pleased with what they observe or it could become a major impetus for positive change. I believe in the Ronald Reagan adage, "Trust but verify". A worthy goal in education (and all of government) is for "every dollar in" and "every dollar out" of every financial account to be easily reviewable online by anyone at anytime without any barriers to access.

his most recent prison sentence start date (February 24, 2010) has come and gone and he is still a free man, testifying as the larger case continues.

In Alabama, when it rains, it pours. Alongside the Roy Johnson investigation another was occurring, in Birmingham, of Mayor Larry Langford and assorted cronies including former B'ham city

Transparency has become so much the ta-da concept du jour that it's easy when hearing about new projects to assume they will be delayed, derailed or diluted. Not so in Alabama. When Gov. Riley told his state that he was going to open up the state's books and put spending online, he really meant it. Here's his 2006 (Q1) state plane flight log, reaction to state salaries going online, here's More here re the School Fiscal Accountability Act (2006-196) guidelines for schools.

Beyond pie charts: How transparency came to Alabama schools

Pie chart (L) and Excel check register

and corruption. The felony counts to which Roy pleaded guilty involved six separate conspiracies to send business to companies that provided money, home furnishings and jobs for his two children and their spouses. In early February 2010 a federal judge ordered Roy -- whose top annual salary in the Alabama ed job was $257,861 -- to forfeit $18.2 million in cash plus his $1.3 million home in Opelika,